


i'll be waiting

by asdf_writings



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: College, Cutie pies, Fluff and Angst, Kid Fic, Mark Lee & Suh Youngho | Johnny Are Siblings, i think, johnyong roommates, mark is an actual child in this, overuse of the word little
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:54:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26294470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asdf_writings/pseuds/asdf_writings
Summary: “When are you coming home?” Mark whimpered into the phone. He had both hands wrapped around it, his mom’s hand on top of his own, angling the phone so his older brother could actually see his face. His little face, with wide eyes and pinched eyebrows. Johnny could just make out his little pouty lips through the FaceTime call.~soft johnmark siblings ft kid!mark and international college student!johnny
Relationships: Mark Lee & Suh Youngho | Johnny
Comments: 2
Kudos: 90





	i'll be waiting

**Author's Note:**

> i love kidfics they are my kryptonite in any fandom ever  
> and i always think of johnny & mark as siblings so enjoy!
> 
> (pls rec me kidfics pls & ty)

“When are you coming home?” Mark whimpered into the phone. He had both hands wrapped around it, his mom’s hand on top of his own, angling the device so his older brother could actually see his face. His little face, with wide eyes and pinched eyebrows. Johnny could just make out his tiny pouty lips through the FaceTime call.

“I’m sorry bud, it might be awhile,” Johnny sighed, running a hand through his hair. He was already stressed and it was only week three of university. He thought he was fluent in Korean by now—with all the Saturday language classes his parents put him in over the years—and the language proficiency test he took to confirm this spot in this program supposedly proved it. And yet he felt so behind, always spelling things incorrectly, misunderstanding dictation, or using the wrong formality. And don’t get him started on his actual classes…

That all being said, Johnny was having a great time. He made friends quickly (as he usually did) since he wasn’t the only international student in his dorm. And he loved his program. He had found it by chance while thumbing through pamphlets in his high school counselor’s office. A unique chance to study business, tech, and design at one of the top universities in Seoul. _And_ a special scholarship for international students who were proficient in Korean. It all seemed too good to be true, so he pretty much ignored it until the fall of his senior year when he applied on a whim.

And he got in. With the scholarship. He was going to be one of a hundred in the program, and the only candidate selected from the US. He nearly shit himself when he got the email. His _parents_ nearly shit themselves too, unaware that their son had even applied to such a prestigious and competitive program. It was too good to say no to, even if it meant saying goodbye to everything he had grown up with.

Johnny was born and raised in Chicago. He assumed he would always live in the area, or at least somewhere in the country. The family made regular trips to Korea, but he never envisioned himself _living_ here. Yes, it meant starting over, but it was refreshing to have a blank slate. He loved the friends he made in his dorm and it seemed like he had a lot going for himself as the really tall (handsome?) kid from America in the selective NCT program.

The only thing that made this transition really difficult was how much his heart hurt at the thought of his family. He was close with his parents, both of them raising him with so much love and affection. And they gave him one of the best things to ever happen to him: his baby brother Mark.

He was surely a surprise to the whole family. Their parents were already older than most when Johnny was born. Mark came into the world when Johnny was fourteen. He was the little family miracle, brightening every corner of their home, occupying every inch of their hearts. He was smaller than Johnny, and would likely always be, but he was perfect from the start. Johnny had just started high school, and while he was still very involved in extracurriculars and sports, would rush home every day to help play with or take care of Mark. His friends liked to joke that he was a built in babysitter, but he never saw it like that. Mark was his built in best friend.

Johnny was brought back to reality when he heard the telltale sniffle, classic _Minhyung Language_ (their father proudly coined that term) signaling an oncoming sob fest. Johnny kicked himself for not explaining this all to him better before he left. He just kept putting it off in the hopes that maybe Mark would just _get it_ and they could avoid unnecessary tears and sadness. Fat chance.

“But…but I miss you!”

“Marky-mark, I miss you too! Don’t cry,” even though Johnny felt like crying himself. “I’ll be home before you know it, kiddo.”

Truth be told, Johnny had no idea when he was coming back. The semester would end in the summer, but he wasn’t sure if he would even be able to return home. The breaks in between semesters weren’t long enough to justify paying for international flights, especially since he was already in the process of looking into summer internships. He would definitely come home during the winter break for the holidays, but there was a good chance he wouldn’t be around for Mark’s fifth birthday.

“ _Mama,_ can we go to Korea tomorrow?” Mark asked, looking up to their mother off-screen. Johnny heard her hum in that motherly way that made him ache for home. He saw one of her hands run through Mark’s hair and, wow, did he want that right now.

“No, _baby_ , I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that. Maybe we’ll try to have a family vacation before you start school. How does that sound?” their mother inched her way into frame, letting Mark sit in her lap so they could both be in view.

“That would be really nice,” Johnny murmured, placing his chin into his folded arms on the desk in front of him. He had kind of already dreamed about it. His family wasn’t able to come help him move in, though they desperately wanted to. Both of his parents still worked, neither of them able to take that much time off at the same time. Johnny put up a tough front, but it still hurt his heart a bit on move-in day when he was surrounded by families and parents that weren’t his own. He was grateful though, that he was greeted by a friendly roommate with just as friendly parents that made him feel very welcome. He had only been here for a few weeks here but Taeyong and the rest of the Lees had been so kind to him.

But more than anything he wanted to show his parents this beautiful campus, show them what he was working on, where he could be in the next few years. He wanted to take Mark to dog and cat cafes, take pictures of him in the urban sprawl of Seoul, show him the city he had already grown to love. Just the thought made him feel warm inside.

“I want to show you guys everything I’ve learned so far. I know it’s only been a month, but I really like it here. The only thing that would make this better is you guys. I miss you a lot.”

“We miss you too,” their mother smiled, packing it with as much love as she could. When she first saw her son’s eyes when he answered the call, she knew he’d need it. “We’re so proud of you. Always have been.”

Mark whines in their mother’s arms, getting antsy once more.

“And thankful for all that you did for us when you were home. This one,” she blew a raspberry onto Mark’s cheek, reveling in his little squeals. “is even more of a handful than he was before!”

“Giving _mama_ troubles, little man?” Johnny’s sadness hadn’t gone away completely, but his mother sure knew how to help it feel a little less painful.

“No! I’m a good boy,” Mark puffed his chest up, his eyebrows going from pinched in sadness to furrowed in determination. “I clean my room! And I read! Right _mama_?”

“Oh, that’s right. How could I forget about my baby boy’s clean room? If only I could get you to clean the rest of the house.”

Johnny chuckled at Mark’s little face on the screen, as exasperated as a toddler could be.

“Hey, what happened to me? I’m not your baby boy anymore?”

Their mother snorted, rolling her eyes at her oldest. “You haven’t been since you unfairly surpassed my height. You’re just my bigger baby boy. All grown up in college…” her smile faded, only slightly, memories flashing through her mind of Johnny’s childhood. She remembered dressing little Johnny in the same pair of overalls Mark had spilled some watermelon onto earlier in the week.

“Ah, mom, don’t cry on me. That’s Mark’s job.”

“Hey!” Mark yelled indignantly.

“I’m just teasing, little guy. Your job is to be the best boy for _mama_ and _papa,_ do you understand?”

Mark gasped a little before nodding. “Yes _hyung!_ I’ll be very good. Then you’ll come home?”

“Proud of you, Marky-mark. I can’t make any promises, buddy. But I can tell you that I’ll try my hardest to be home as soon as I can.”

Johnny’s heart dropped to see the look in Mark’s eyes: disappointment. He knew it wasn’t really his fault, but it didn’t make it hurt any less.

“Okay _hyung_. I’ll be waiting.”

“Do you know how much I love you?”

Mark’s eyes brightened almost immediately. He knew this game.

“This much?” he spread his arms out, tiny wingspan on full display.

“Even more,” Johnny smiled.

“Thiiiis much?” Mark asked once more, waving his arms up and down, narrowly missing hitting his mother’s face, who merely watched the exchange with fond eyes.

“Even more! I love you so much, Mark. Never forget that, okay?”

“I love you too! Even more!” Mark leaned forward to kiss the screen. Their mother laughed before pulling him back slightly and rubbing her phone screen with her sleeve. Little boys are cute but their germs aren’t.

Johnny did something similar, kissing his camera and blowing several kisses to the screen. Mark caught them in his little hands, smiling widely.

“Hey _mama_ , I love you too.”

“Love you will all my heart, _love of my life_.”

They ended the call soon after that, Johnny promising to ring again soon, passing on greetings to his father. Even though the call ended happily, afterwards it took a while for their mother to calm Mark down enough for a nap. He still wasn’t able to sleep peacefully, tossing and turning fitfully until she knelt down by his little bed to card her fingers through his hair. When his face finally relaxed, she let her own walls down a little. A few tears escaped and this time she didn’t try to hastily wipe them away.

When Johnny put his phone down, he had to grip his desk to keep from bursting into tears. He felt a hand on his shoulder and he didn’t need to turn around to know it was his roommate.

_“Are you okay?”_

_“Yeah, don’t worry about me. Just homesick.”_

_“I made something in the communal kitchen, if you want a quick meal before you keep studying.”_

The two made their way out of their shared bedroom into the shared cooking area. A pot of _kimchi jjigae_ sat fresh on a coaster, two empty bowls stacked next to it.

_“I almost made you some American food. But I have no idea how to make any, and I figured you’d miss home cooking. Hope you like it?”_

_“Taeyong I…I love it, thank you.”_

_“You haven’t even tried it yet.”_

_“I still love it. Really.”_

_“…Well let’s eat then! Together?”_

_“Yeah, together.”_

**Author's Note:**

> anything written italics is spoken korean!
> 
> college making me emo, even tho im taking classes from home online.
> 
> hope everyone is healthy


End file.
